Ear-feeding apparatus



Jan. 5 1926.

G. ELLlvoTT ET AL EAR FEEDING APPARATUS Filed August 9, 1924 3 Sheets-Shoe?I l G. ELLIOTT'ET AL EAR FEEDING APPARATUS Jan. 5 1926.

Filed August 9, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet '2 imma..

G. ELLIOTT ET AL EAR FEEDING APPARATUS Jan. 5 1926.

Filed August 9, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Jan. 5, 1926.l

1 pail.

UNITED STATES A C1,566,661 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE ELLIOTT AND HAROLD M. WALKER, 0F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO INTERNATIONAL PATENTS DEVELOPMENT COM-- PANY, -A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

EAR-FEEDING APPARATUS.

Application filed August 9, 1924. Serial No. 731,046.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that We, GEORGE ELLIOTT and HAROLD M. ,WALKEm citizens lof the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jacksonv and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ear-Feeding Apparatus, of Which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pail assembling machines, and more particularly to an4 apparatus for automatically feeding the handle-receiving ears to the machine which positions these ears upon the pail.

In the patent to William Spain, No. 1,423,693, granted July 25,- 1922, is disclosed a machine for positioning the earsupon the In this apparatus a pair of rotary conveyors are intermittently operated to bring a pair of ears against diametrically opposite sides of a pail, and then the pail is pushed or translated longitudinally to engage the ends of the ears under the flange of the pail-cover.

According to the present invention auto-` matic means are provided to feed the ears in pairs, to the positioning machine duringl the interval While a previously provide pair of ears are being positioned under the cover flange. Specifically, a pair of maga- Zine chutes filled with ears, which feed down by gravity, are positioned so that one chute delivers to each ear-positioning conveyor. Reciprocating fingers push an ear from each chute into the receiving recess in the corresponding conveyor, and these feeding fingers are simultaneously operated from the means which translates the pail to engage the previously provided ears under the flange of the pail cover. In this wayv the'complete ear-positioning operation is made continuous and automatic.

The particular objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description of one improved form of apparatus embodying the principles of this invention.

In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is aside elevation of the comple machine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,'the earfeeding mechanism being shown in side elevation.

. conveyor.

rig. 4.

y Fig. 7 is a similar section takensubstantially on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the upper portion of the pail, shoW- ing a handle-receiving ear yin its applied position, the upper edge of said ear being inserted between the body of the pail and the depending flange of the pail cover.

Referring first more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a pair of rotary conveyors designated generally as 1 and 2, are mounted on parallel horizontal shafts 3 and 4 supported on a suitable framework 5. Each of the conveyors 1 and 2, which are substan tial du licates kof one another, comprises an inner d) similar cylindrical disks .7 and 8, spaced from one another. Eachpair of disks 7 and 8 is provided with mating semi-cylindrical recesses 9 and 10, there being a series of these recesses, here shown as eight, spaced at equal intervals about the periphery of the The conveyors -1 and 2 are rotated in unison in opposite directions by means of the inter-meshing gears 11 and 12 secured to the shafts 3 and 4 respectively, and the shafts 3 and 4 are so spaced that when a pair of the arcuate recesses inthe periphery of the conveyors yare op osed to one another with their centers in t e horizontalplane vpassing through the axes of shafts 3 and 4, these Amating' recesses will rum 6 fixedly supporting a pair of anism, hereinafter described, to positionA the handle-receiving ears beneath the flange of the pail cover. 1n the construction here shown, a driving wheel 14 is secured to the gear l2, the Wheel 14 being provided with a series of spaced radial slots 15 extending inwardly from the periphery of the wheel, there being as many slots 15 as there are pail-receiving recesses 9. A gear 16, keyed to a shaft 17 mounted in the frame 5 directly below the shaft 4, has secured to one of its faces at diametrically opposite points, a pair of driving rollers 18. As the gear 16 is continuously rotated, one of these rollers 18 will engage in one of the slots 15 and rotate the wheel 14 and the conveyors through an arc equal to the distance between two of the adjacent pail-receiving recesses 9. rfhe rotation of the driving wheel 4 and of the conveyors will then cease until the next roller 18 comes into engagement with the next slot 15 in the driving Wheel. A driving pinion 19 on driving shaft 20, meshes with and continuously drives the gear 16. llt will be noted that as the driving shaft 20 is continuously rotated, the two pail conveyors 1 and 2 will be intermittently rotated in opposite directions, halting for cer- 'tain limited periodeight times during each revolution. i Y

A radially slida-ble ear-retaining chuck 21 is mounted in the disk 12 beneath each pailreceivng recess 9. The outer ear-supporting surface of this chuck is recessed to receive the navel of the ear, (as shown at 22 Fig. 5), and preferablyia permanent magnetv 23 is employed to normally hold the ear in place in the chuck. 'A cam projection 24 on each chuck is adapted to project the chuck and ear radially outward against the action of a retracting spring, (not shown).

A lever 25 centrally pivoted at 26 on frame 5, has at one end a pin 27 engaging in cam slot 28 in the cam wheel 29 keyed to shaft 17. The opposite end of lever 25 connects at 30 with a plunger 31 adapted to be reciprocated toward and from the covered end of pail 13, as shown more particularly in Fig. 3. A pair of cams 32 on plunger 31 cooperate with cams 24 to project the earholding chucks 21 radially.

In operation, we wil-l assume that the two conveyors 1 and 2 have halted temporarily, with a set of pail-receiving recesses 9 and 10 in each conveyor directly above the shafts 3 and 4. At this time an ear 33 is placed in each of the chucks 21. At the next rotation of the conveyors these recesses are carried forward 45 to a position, as shown in Fig.

' l, where one of the pails 13, with its previously applied cover 34 in place thereon, is

delivered into the pail-receiving recess in conveyor 1 from a pail-delivering chute 35. The next intermittent rotation carries this pail downward fto the position where it is gripped betweeny the two conveyors 1 and 2 in the plane of the supporting shafts 3 and v 4. During the interval while the conveyors 1 and 2 have ceased to rotate, and are holding the pail 13 at this point, the pin 27 enters the offset portion 36 of cam s1ot28 in constantly rotating cam 29 and operates lever 25 to project the plunger 31 toward the covered end of the pail. As the plunvger 31 moves forwardly, the cams 32 will first engage the cams 34 and project the earretaining chucks 21 and the ears 33 held thereby against the sides of pail 13. Further movement of plunger 31 will engage the cover 34 of the pail and push or translate the pail longitudinally so that the ends of the stationarily .held ears 33 will be projected beneath the down-turned flange 37 of cover 34. rThis position of the assembled parts is shown in Fig. 8. The plunger 31 is then retracted, as the pin 28 returns to the straight portion of c-am slot 28, and upon the next rotation of the conveyors the assembled pail is dropped into the delivery chute 38 below the machine. All of the above is substantially as shown and described in greater detail in the patent to Spain 1,423,- 693, referred to hereinabove and reference to this patent should be made for a more complete disclosure of this portion of the machine and its operation.

The present invention relates more particularly to the combination with the above machine of a means for automatically feeding the ears to the ear-holding chucks 21 of the positioning machine as described above. Mounted above and to one side of each' conveyor is an ear-holding chute or magazine 39. These two chutes are substantial duplicates of one another and a description of one will sutlice for both. The chute 39 is mounted on a bracket 40 projecting upwardly from the machine frame 5, 'so that the delivery end 41 of the chute will lie substantially in the vertical plane passing through the shaft 3 or 4. Extending throughout the entire length of the chute is a lower slideway 42, in which a plurality of the ears 33 are placed and feed downwardly automatically by gravity. The upper end of slideway 42 is cut away at the top, as shown lat 43 Fig. 4, so that the ears may be manually fed into the chute at any desired time, or' fed thereto in any other suitable manner. At the lower delivery end of the chute, a finger 44 is centrall pivoted between lugs 45 on the bottom o the chute, and has its upper end 46 projecting into the path of the downwardly moving ears to normally prevent the passage of one of these ears from the delivery end of the chute. Aspring 47 engages the rear end of finger 44 to normally hold its forward end 46 in the pathway of the ears.

A pair of slides 48 and 49 reciprocatein a slideway 50 formed in thelower end of chute 39 above the lower ear-holding slideway 42. A bearing block 51 is pivoted at 52 on the upper side of slide-48, and anlear- `delivering finger 53 is centrally pivoted at 54 inblockl 51. A compression spring 55, located' between the rear end of finger 53 and the slide `48, holds the forward forked end 56 of the finger in engagement with the navel of one of the ears 33. The plates 57 forming the upper sides of slideway 50, are held yieldably down in contact with the slide 48 by means of springs 58 surrounding the bolts 59.v In this way the slide 48 is held firmly but yieldably in place in any position it may assume. A link 60 is pivoted at 61 to a projection 62 on finger' 53, and at its other end is pivoted at 63 in a pro- `jection 64 rising from the upper side of slide 49. An adjusting screw 65 mounted in link 60 bears upon the upper rear end of finger 53, and adjustablylimits the downward ear-engaging position of the forward forked end 56 of finger 53.

In operation, the upper slide 49 is reciprocated in the slideway 50 by a means hereinafter described. When the slide 49 is moved downwardly, it will through the link 60, move the lower slide 48 and finger i 53 downwardly, ejecting an ear 33 past the yieldable detent 46 into one of the ear-holding chucks 21. The following ear 33, sliding down the chute by gravity, will be retained in the chute by the-yieldable detent 46. U 0n the return movement of slide 49, the link 60, through projection 62, will lift the forward end of finger 53 against the action of compression s ring 55, so that the forked end 56 of the nger will pass over the ear 33 now at the lower end of the chute' ,66 forthe vother ear-feeding A unit being pivoted to the other end of the cross head 72. The cross head 72 is centrally secured at 7 3 to the outer end of the squared slide shaft 74 which carries the plunger 31.

It will nowl be seenl that during the operation'of the ear-positioning machine first described,`when the conveyors have temporarily halted and the plunger 31 is being moved inwardly by. cam 29 to position one pair of ears 33 beneath the flange 37 of pail cover 34, the levers 66 will be simultaneously operated. to impart ai forward working stroke to the ear-feeding slides -48 and 49 scribed above. This will position a new pair of ears 33 in thelear-holding chucks'21 then uppermost. in the ear-positioning machine. It will be noted that in the continuous 0p- -eration of this machine, four separate automatic operations will simultaneously take place at four successive stations in the machine, every time that the krotation of the conveyors 1 and 2 is temporarily` halted. At the first station directly above the shafts 3 and 4, a p air of ears 33 are delivered to the ear-holding chucks 21. At the second station a pail 13 is delivered into one of the recesses 9.` At the thirdstation a pail 13 is translated longitudinally to engage the ears 33 beneath the fiange 37 of cover vious that various modifications in structure might be made without departing 'fromthe spirit of the invention. All such modifications are therefore contemplated as coming within the scope of the appended claims.

IVe claim:

1. An apparatus for feeding pail ears to an ear manipulating machine, comprising a chute having an open lower end through which the ears.l would normally discharge by gravity, yieldable means engaging the lowermost ear to hold the ears within the chute, and means for positively -forcing this ear from the chute past the first mentioned means, `the yieldable means then engaging the next succeeding ear.

2. Inl an apparatus for positioning ears on pails, a rotary conveyor having a series of ear holding pockets, a magazine chute having an open lower end with which the 'pockets are successively brought into register, and means timed With'the rotary conveyor for ejecting the ears one by one from the .chute into the pockets).

3. In an'apparatus for positioning ears on pails, a rotary vconveyor having a series of ear'holding pockets, magazine chute having ran open lower end with which the pockets are successively brought into regis-v ter, means normally holding the ears within the chute,` and lmeans timed with the rotary conveyor for ejecting the'ears one by one into t e pockets. vl 4. In an apparatus for .ositioning ears on pails, ,a rotary conveyor aving a series of ear holding pockets, amagazine chute having an open lower end with which the pockets are successively brgughtiptod regisy130 ter, driving means for intermittently advancing the conveyor to successively bring the pockets to rest' at the foot of the chute, and means actuated from the driving means for successively ejecting the ears one by one from the chute into the pockets during the intervals when the pockets are at rest.

5. In lan apparatus for positioning ears on pails` a rotary conveyor having a series of ear holding pockets, a magazine chute having an open lower end with which the pockets are successively brought into register, driving means for intermittently advancing the conveyor to successively bring` the pockets to rest at the foot of the chute, means for holding the ears within the chute while the pockets are in motion, and means actuated from 'the driving means for successively ejecting the ears one by one from the ,chute into the pockets during the intervals when the pockets are at rest.

6. An ear feeding mechanism comprising a chute having a slide-way for the ears, a second slideway in the chute parallel to the 4first mentioned slideway and adjacent its delivery end, and a reciprocating member in the second slideway including means for engaging an ear on its operative stroke and delivering it from the chute.

7 An ear feeding mechanism, comprising a chute having a slide-wayr for the ears, a second slidewayv in the chute parallel to the first mentioned slideway and adjacent its delivery end, a reciprocating member in the second slideway including means for `en gaging an ear 'n its operative stroke and delivering it from the chute, and a yielding detent for normally preventing the passage of the ears from the chute. i

8. An ear feeding mechanism, comprising a chute having a slide-way for the ears, a second slideway in the chute adjacent its delivery end, a reciprocating member in the second slideway, a pivoted finger mountedJ on thea reciprocating member adapted to engage an ear on its forward stroke, and means for reciprocating the member.

9. An ear feeding mechanism, comprising a chute having a slide-way for the ears, a second slide-way in the chute adjacent' its delivery end, a reciprocating member inathe second slide-way, a. pivoted finger mounted on the. reciprocating member adapted toi., engage an ear on its forward stroke, a reciprocatory driving means, and a link con-y nection between this means and the finger, whereby on a forward stroke of the driving means an ear will be engaged and ejected from the chute, and upon the return stroke the finger will be lifted to ride over the ear nowin position at the end of the chute.

10. An ear feeding mechanism, comprising a chute having a slide-way for the ears, a second slide-wayin the chute adjacent its delivery end, a reciprocating member in the second slide-way, a pivoted finger mounted on the reciprocating member adapted to engage an ear on its forward stroke, a reciprocatory driving means, and a linkvconneetion between this means and the finger, whereby on a forward stroke of the driving means an ear will be engaged and ejected from the chute, and upon the return stroke the linger will be. lifted to ride over the ear now in position at the end of the chute, and al yielding detent at the eXit end of the chute for normally preventing the passage of an ear from the chute unless positively ejected by the finger.

ll. In combination with a machine for positioning ears on pails, means for feeding the ears to the machine comprising a pair of magazine-chutes. and means operated from the' ear-positioning mechanism for automatically feeding a pair of ears from the chutes to the machine at fixed intervals.

'12. In combination with a machine for positioning ears on pails, means for feeding the ears to the machine comprising a pair of slide-ways, a reciprocating device cooperating with each slideway to deliver an ear to the postioning machine and means operated from the machine for actuating the delivering devices.

13. The combination with a machine for positioning ears on pails, comprising a pair of conveyors, means to intermittently operate the conveyors to bring a pair of earsv against opposite sides of the pail, and means operating during the intervals when the conveyors are at rest to position the ears beneath the cover flange of the pail, of means for feedingV the ears to the machine, and means for actuating this means from the positioning mechanism during the intervals of rest of the conveyors.

' 14. The combination with a machine for positioning ears on pails. comprising a pair of conveyors, means yto intermittently operate the conveyors to bring a pair of ears v against opposite sides of the pail, and means operating during the intervals when the con-- veyors are at rest to position the ears beneath the cover flange of the pail, of means for feedingv the ears to the machine comprising a pair of magazine-chutes, andmeans actuated from the positioning mechanism for feeding a pair of `ears from the chutes i to the machine during the intervals of rest of the conveyors.

15. The combination with a machine for positioning ears on pails, comprising a pair of. conveyors, means to intermittently operate the conveyors to bringy a pair of ears against opposite sides of the pail, and means operating during the intervals when the conveyors are at rest to position the ears beneath the cover flange of the pail, of means for feeding the ears to themachine comprising a pair of magazine-chutes, and means actuated from the positioning mechainsm for feeding a second pair of ears to the machine from the chutes, While a first pair is being positioned beneath the pail-cover.

1G. In apparatus for positioning ears on pails, intermittently operating conveying mechanism which temporarily halts at successive stations, and automatically operating mechanismfor feeding ears thereto at the first station, a pail thereto at the second station, positioning the ears on the pail at the third station, and delivering the assembled pail from the machine at the fourth station.

17. In apparatus foi positioning ears on pails, intermittently operating conveying mechanism havnig a'series of similar ear and pail holding supports, each of Which temporarily halts at' successive stations, means for simultaneously and automatically delivering ears to' the conveyor`at one station, a pail at the next station, positioning eai's on a pail at a third station, and ejecting an assembled pail at the last station.

18. In apparatus for positioning cars on4 pails, a pair of similar intermittently operating conveying mechanisms, having pail holding recesses adapted to mate at one station to engage opposite sides of a pail, an ear holder in each pail holding recess, and means for automatically delivering a pair of ears to the ear holders at a preceding station.

19. In apparatusfor positioning ears on pails, a pair of similar intermittently operating conveying mechanisms, having pail holding recesses adapted to mate at one station to engage opposite sides of a pail, an I ear holder in cach pail holding recess, and(l means for automatically and simultaneously delivering an ear to each of the ear holders at a preceding station.

20. In an apparatus for positioning ears on pails, a pair of mating conveyors each adapted to embrace one side `of a pail and each embodying an ear-holding recess, means to feed an ear to each recess, and means to subsequently feed a pail to the mating conveyors.

2l. In an apparatus for positioning ears on pails, a pair of mating conveyors each adapted to embrace one side of a pail and each embodying an ear-holding recess, means to feed an ear to each recess, means to feed a pail to the mating conveyors in contact with the ears, and means to impart relative movement to the pail and ears, while held by the conveyors, to secure the cars on the pail.

22. In an apparatus for positioning ears conveyors, to position 23. In an apparatus for positioning earsv on pails, a pair ofconveying mechanisms, having pail-holding recesses adapted to mate at one station to engage opposite sides of a pail, there beingl an ear holder in each pail-holding recess, and automatic means for delivering ears to the ear-holders before the rail is received in the mating recesses. I

24:. In an apparatus for positioning ears on pails, a pair of conveying mechanisms, having pail-holding recesses adapted to mate at one station to engage opposite sides of a pail, there being an ear holder in each pail-holding recess, and automatic means for delivering ears tothe ear-holders before the rail is received in the mating recesses, and means to impart relative movement to the pail and ears, While held by the the ears upon the pail.

25. An apparatus for feeding pail ears to an ear positioning machine Which includes a-moving conveyor having ear receiving portions, ears, and means timed With the conveyor for delivering ears from the-magazine only when the vcar-receiving portions are in earrcceiving position.

26. An apparatus for feeding pail ears to an ear positioning machine which includes a holder for the pail, having earreceiving portions, a` pair 'of ear-feeding magazines, and means for delivering an ear from each magazine to the ear-receiving portions of the pail holder. v

27. An apparatus for feeding pail ears to an ear positioning machine which includes a holder for the pail, having earr'eceivi'ng portions, a pair of ear-feeding magazines, and delivering means on each magazine Which are synchronously operated whereby a pair of ears for each pail yare delivered to the pail-holder, one ear from each magazine.

28. In a machine for'placing ears on cans, an ear feeding device comprising a chute through which means for normally retaining the ears Within the chute, and means for vpositively ejectingthe ears one by one from the chute past the retaining means.

GEORGE ELLIOTT. HAROLD M. WALKER.

the ears pass in succession,f

comprising a magazine for the 

